1. Field of the Invention
The present invention deals with a computing device or system. In particular, it deals with a completely automated software system, or any device of the same principle. In practice, through self-generation and automatic updating from old to new versions, the software systems in this invention can become independent of computer technology and, thus, will never become obsolete when the technology changes. Henceforth, we shall use software, software program or software system to mean device or system made of software, firmware, and/or hardware.
2. Background of the Invention
Currently, software programs are dependent on computer technology. When the computer hardware system, the operating system, and/or the computer language change, the software programs written under these systems often become obsolete. In general, all today's software programs sooner or later will become obsolete, for computer technology will surely continue to change. Because designers of software systems in the past did not or could not take into consideration the future upgrading of software, today there is a crisis of software maintenance, in which most of the money and energy for software (as high as 80% of the total budget) is spent on updating and maintaining old software. And, the closer a software system is to obsolescence, the costlier it is to be maintained. The situation can only get worse. It should also be noted that upgrading from one technology-dependent software system to another technology-dependent system is not the correct solution for software.
Furthermore, in order to use a computer, an end-user or a software developer has to learn the necessary computer language and technologies, which create a barrier between people and the computer. This invention intends to eliminate technical information in computer usage and to make the communication between the computer and its users, including all software developers and hardware designers, exclusively in human languages. This software system becomes independent of technology through self-generation and auto-updating. Auto-updating allows a system, in principle, to be upgraded to systems of virtually unlimited complexity, such as those needed to sustain evolutionary life.
The main purpose of the computer and its software is to automate and speed up manual processes. However, computerization generally can only achieve partial automation. From a theoretical point of view, this invention is designed to be a completely automated software system and is conceptually closer to the living organism, which is totally automated, than to the non-living technology of the twentieth century, even though this invention is discovered for software independent of the structure of the living organism. This invention could provide a new and common foundation for computer science and theoretical biology.
The fundamental concept of this invention is that although no material device can last forever without deterioration, information through automatic regeneration is theoretically possible to exist unaltered permanently as exemplified by the propagation of DNA in living organisms. Thus, the primary concern of this invention is to achieve full and complete automation in an information system consisting of computer software.
This invention proposes to create an information system in the form of software intended to last to infinity, even with the possibility of evolutionary changes. Not only is it true that such a permanent system cannot be experimentally tested, it faces the added difficulty that mistakes or bugs in the system may have to be traced back to the infinite past. A prime example relating to infinity in time is the study of the evolution and the origin of life. From a theoretical point of view, life can be defined as information stored in a permanent format or simply as permanent information.
Accordingly, this invention is beyond the field of knowledge covered by physical science, which generally studies physical phenomena occurring within finite time intervals and, therefore, can rely largely on experimentation and empirical verification. Physical science is important in the selection of a suitable medium for storing the information of this invention, be it electrical, mechanical or chemical. The invention, which actually tries to create something that will last forever, is also outside the scope of social science, which deals with behavior or decision making and, thus, requires the consideration of only the expected consequences of an action to the infinite future. In general, many important results in social science, such as decisions and prices, both of which involve the infinite future, are not empirically verifiable simply because the infinite future will never arrive. The never ending self-generation of software in this invention also involves infinity in time, and social science will be needed to consider its consequences.
In conclusion, physical science involves finite time, social science involves time to the infinite future, and life science, a field to which this invention belongs, both the infinite future and the infinite past. In terms of human progress, this invention has surpassed the current culture dominated by physical science and even the hitherto still questionable knowledge in social science; it has brought us into the field of life science, the fundamental principles of which defy materialistic interpretations, and the point of view of which seems to contradict that of physical science. This invention has entered into a very advanced area of post-scientific knowledge.